Joseph Sikora

Sikora was born in Chicago, Illinois to mother Barbara and father Albin. One of three boys, he lived in the Jefferson Park and Norwood Park neighborhoods. He is of Polish and Dutch descent. He graduated high school from Notre Dame College Prep in 1994, studied toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting at The Theatre School at DePaul University from 1994 to 1996, and graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 1998.As a teenager, Sikora appeared in a McDonald's commercial with Michael Jordan in 1990. He made his Broadway debut in 2006 after he was cast as one of the leads on The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. He is also an ensemble member of Chicago's Shattered Globe Theatre Company.

Sikora made his television debut in an episode of The New Adam-12 after playing extras on a few TV shows. He was cast as Johnny in Rudy. After small appearances in TV shows and films such as Early Edition, Turks, The Watcher, and Ghost World, he was cast in two episodes of Third Watch.

In 2003, Sikora was cast as Roger in the direct-to-video biographical-drama film Gacy. After a few appearances in low-budget movies, he was cast in the Golden Globe-nominated Normal. It was there that he had what he considers his "breakthrough" moment: when the film's star, Tom Wilkinson, told him, "All you have to do is think the line and the camera will read it".

Sikora also appeared onstage. He was part of the Geffen Theatre's production of Fat Pig and the Los Angeles Theatre's production of Killer Joe. He made many TV appearances between 2005 and 2012, including major network shows such as ER, Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, CSI: Miami, Prison Break, White Collar, Lost, and Dollhouse. He appeared the 2007 horror film Night Skies.

He appeared in two episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2010. That year, he also portrayed Hans Schroeder in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, and an orderly at the mental hospital in Shutter Island. In 2011, he was in the television pilot for Body of Proof, and had a full role in Adult Swim's comedy horror TV series The Heart, She Holler, as Sheriff. In early 2012, he appeared in Safe as the son of the head of the Russian mafia. He returned to theater in September 2012 with The Freedom of the City.

In 2012, Sikora appeared in the Tom Cruise feature film Jack Reacher as an Army sniper wrongfully accused of gunning down random people in Pittsburgh, who requests Jack Reacher's assistance to prove his innocence.

In October 2013, he was cast in the Starz original drama series Power.

In 2020, Sikora portrayed Frank Cosgrove Jr. on the third season of the Netflix crime drama Ozark, released on March 27, 2020. In 2021, he and his Black Fox Productions company signed a first look deal with Lionsgate TV.